


And Then There Was One

by seasonofthegeek



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dimension Jumping, Portals, a lot of people are pretty much zombies, mentions of character deaths, this is not a happy story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 18:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16666030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek
Summary: In an alternate dimension, there is a different set of Miraculous holders from the ones we know that are facing an ongoing threat of citizens being infected with a Miraculous-created illness that gives them powerful abilities but drives them mad until they are akin to zombies. This is that team’s story, and it is not a happy story.





	And Then There Was One

**Author's Note:**

> This is being written to follow the prompts for Kagami Week but hopefully I'll be able to continue it even after that. :)

“The probability of you getting a higher count than me at this point is laughable.” Firefox held out his hand and his robot assistant dropped a grouping of blood-filled syringes into his gloved palm.

Onyx huffed as she dropped another betabug to the ground, pinning the struggling woman’s arms behind her back. “All I need are my own abilities to beat you. I don’t have to rely on help.”

“Foxtail counts as my abilities,” her teammate shot back. “I created him; therefore, I’m still beating you.”

“Cut it out. We have work to do.” Sting’s voice carried over their communicators and both heroes shared a look before getting back to work breaking up the mob of super-powered victims.   
_______________________

“Nice of you to finally show up,” Kagami commented as Luka dropped heavily to the couch. “You have a responsibility to this team. Where were you today? I thought I saw you when we started fighting and then you disappeared. Max and I had to take out thirty or so by ourselves.”

Jagged cleared his throat pointedly from his spot across the room and Kagami pursed her lips. “Not entirely by ourselves,” she amended.

“I had to take care of some other things,” Luka murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Did everything go okay?”

“As okay as it ever does.” She noted the way Duusu draped herself over her holder’s shoulder, fanning her tail feathers over him in an almost protective manner. There was a small part of her that wanted to ask what was wrong but she’d learned her lesson about trying to get involved in teammates’ lives more than absolutely necessary. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“She’s simply sore she can’t get a higher body count than me.” Max entered the room with a tray of the blood samples he’d had Foxtail procure during the fight. The floating robot followed behind him, digital eyes downcast as Trixx slept soundly on his head. “The illness seems to be spreading. These samples are significantly more infected than the last we took nine days ago.”

“Which means someone is still using the Ladybug Miraculous to power them,” Jagged sighed, leaning back in his chair. “The abilities should’ve petered out by now without a source of power.”

Kagami felt herself stiffen and tried to appear relaxed and unaffected. He was dead. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him.

“We saw Adrien die,” Luke said tiredly, voicing her thoughts. “He created the betabugs and it killed him and destroyed the earrings. There was nothing left after the explosion. It has to be something else.”

“We saw a lot of people die that day,” Jagged added softly, closing his laptop and leaning back in his chair. “So without the Ladybug Miraculous, there’s no way to reverse this?”

“The betabug abilities are connected to the power they were created from,” Max explained for what definitely wasn’t the first time. “The likelihood of finding another power source that would be able to override it without the earrings is—“

“Possible,” a quiet voice interjected. “I mean, I think anyway.” Marc stood in the doorway as Nooroo hovered by his shoulder.

Luka stood abruptly. “Where’s—“

“Contained for now.”

Kagami looked between the men with a frown. “What are you hiding?” She felt Plagg stir and he blinked up at her with sleepy eyes from his place tucked in on the couch beside her. She reached down to run a finger along his head even as her attention zeroed back in on Luka and Marc.

Marc’s eyes widened. “Not hiding!” he swore, holding up his hands. “It was just something I needed to see for myself and I thought this was the best way since I’m not much of a combat fighter.”

Jagged was suddenly standing and crossing the room in long strides, Pollen hurrying with him. “Tell me you didn’t bring one of those things here, mate. Please tell me that.”

Nooroo nuzzled his holder’s cheek as Marc shrunk in on himself. “I don’t like to lie,” he whispered. “So if that’s what you want me to tell you…”

“Where?” The older man loomed over him.

Kagami noticed the way Marc tried to hold his ground. He wasn’t very brave. She’d argued with Jagged about giving him the Butterfly Miraculous but they needed the help and in the end, she’d been overruled. So if he was willing to stand up against Jagged and possibly she and Max, this was something he found incredibly important. She watched his eyes cut back toward the hall as if he was going to make a run for it. 

Not just important then; this was someone he wanted to protect.

Kagami tried to think back on the things she’d learned about Marc. Years ago, she wouldn’t have bothered since she considered him a coward and a liability but she’d found that there were advantages to paying attention to even the little things. She’d learned it too late, but she’d learned it nonetheless.

There’d been a boyfriend. It was coming back in snippets now. Some kind of artist or writer; some occupation Kagami had never had the leisure for. He’d been one of the first infected and Marc had been forced into hiding before Luka and Jagged came across him during a patrol and brought him to the safehouse. 

“Nathaniel.” She pulled the name out of the recesses of her mind and saw Marc flinch.

“I spotted him in the crowd.” Luka joined the other man’s side. “We just thought—“

“You didn’t think,” she cut him off. “If either of you had thought, you would’ve realized what an absolutely terrible idea this was.” She finally stood and crossed the room. “Take us to him, Marc.”

“Wait! I just need to explain!” Marc backed up with raised hands. ”I think I can help him with the butterflies. Please, you have to let me try!”

“Sorry, mate. I know you’re new to the team but this isn’t how things are done.” Jagged glared at Luka. “Some of us should know that by now.”

“I love him!” Marc cried out and then covered his mouth with a soft sobbing sound.

“We all loved someone, and they’re all gone now. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.” Jagged moved past him and toward the hall and Marc hurried after him with pleading words.

“Say something,” Luka urged, glaring at Kagami. “He’ll listen to you.”

In that moment, what Kagami really wanted to do was knock Luka to the floor. She wanted to scream and shout and hit him until he finally understood. They’d lost everything, everyone. She’d watched Adrien spiral after he found out everything his parents had been doing behind his back. He’d been seen as Lucky Beetle, the hero of Paris, and all the while, Gabriel and Emilie had been using the other Miraculous in their possession to conduct experiments to try to gain more power beyond what the artifacts offered. They’d been creating the monsters Lucky Beetle had to fight. They’d caused deaths and destruction and all in the name of progress.

And it had broken him.

Kagami watched her partner’s light dim. His parents had been arrested and justice had been served but it left them both feeling empty and uncertain about their position in the world. Kagami had taken the opportunity to strive to be better, to help more people, to take steps to prevent anything like that happening again. She made sure the citizens of Paris saw Onyx patrolling the streets to keep them safe.

Adrien had gone in another direction.

She looked at the fire in Luka’s eyes and it was a painful reminder of who and what she’d already lost.

“There are rules for a reason,” she replied, voice quiet but strong, as she moved past him to follow Jagged and Marc.


End file.
